What If
by xoxfiresignx
Summary: A series of one-shots based on ATLA episodes and how they might have been different  a.k.a. more Zutara-based  if certain things did or didn't happen.  4. What if... he saw her?:  'Her thoughts never went straight around Zuko.'
1. she healed him?

a.n.

This is a series of one-shots based on ATLA episodes and how they might have been different (a.k.a. more Zutara-based) if certain things did or didn't happen. It's basically me taking scenes/episodes from all three seasons and saying 'What if...?"

(Rated T for some swearing)

I don't own ATLA.

Life sucks.

* * *

Episode 2.20 ~ _The Crossroads of Destiny  
_**What if... **_**she healed him?**_

The Crystal Catacombs were cold.

She didn't expect them to be, but they were. Granted, she was miles underground, surrounded by cold, vibrating, glass-like crystal, but she hadn't expected it to be _cold_. She wanted to waterbend, give herself something to do other than sit on her butt in the bone-chilling temperature, but she didn't want to risk it. The Fire-Bitch hadn't thought to take away her water-skin, and she didn't want to draw attention to the fact that she could still defend herself; not yet, anyway.

She had a plan all worked out for the next time Azula came to gloat - a plan involving encasing her in ice as she slid down the long chute into the underground prison - but the psychotic princess hadn't visited since she had tossed the waterbender into the hole hours, maybe even days before. But Katara knew that Azula wouldn't stay away from too long. She wouldn't be able to resist bragging about this minor victory and her plans for the Avatar.

Not to mention, Katara thought grimly, her hand slipping almost-unconsciously to the criss-cross of burns on the skin of her left arm, Azula would come to torture her. Again.

But when she came, Katara would be ready.

The burns throbbed painfully, and Katara was suddenly glad for the deep, unending cold. She shifted over to the nearest jutting outcrop of glittering crystal and pressed her decimated flesh against the cool, smooth surface. A feeling of instant relief washed over her and she let out an involuntary sigh, her head falling back to rest against the greenish pillar. She hadn't healed herself, not wanting to waste her most precious resource, her only hope for escape.

Speaking of escape... she sat up quickly, her left hand resting on her water-skin, her right hand curved and ready to bend. Living with Toph had taught her more than patience: it had taught her to listen. And she could hear, somehow, footsteps and shouts from the mouth of the chute high above her.

She stood and popped the lid off her water-skin, ignoring the shooting pain as she did so, and immediately felt the flow of control seep through her body.

"Come on, Azula," she muttered, her voice cold and cracking like sheets of ice. "Come out and play."

Someone came sliding down the chute. Katara pulled the water from her side and sent it flying toward the entrance of the tube. Then she saw who it was and she froze, the water freezing with her. She gaped, her ice suspended in sparkling animation before her as her visitor groaned and sat up.

It wasn't Azula, at all.

"Zuko?"

He looked up and saw the ice above him. His face registered his shock and fear, and the fire came before she could stop it; within moments, all of her water was gone, melted and destroyed by the scarred Ex-Prince's ferocious self-defense. Katara stared, uncomprehending, as her only chance of escape literally evaporated before her eyes.

"No," she whispered, sinking shakily to her knees. "No!" She actually grabbed handfuls of her soft brown hair, tugging viciously at it in a futile attempt to awaken herself from this horrible nightmare. "STOP!" The tears came suddenly, almost from nowhere. The shock of losing her water, losing her _hope_, was just too much to bear. She buried her face in her hands and mumbled a barely-coherent plea to the boy before her. "Stop. Please. I wasn't trying to hurt you, I thought you were Azula."

The fire stopped, leaving the Fire Nation noble breathing heavily, but it was too late. Every drop of Katara's birthright was gone, wasted. She was powerless.

"I'm sorry," he said, his husky voice pronouncing the words as though they were a foreign language. "I didn't realize-"

"Yes you did." She pushed herself to her feet, her burned arm screaming in anguished protest as the skin and muscle moved and pulled. "This was Azula's plan all along, wasn't it? To send you in first, make me waste my water? Now she'll come down and... and..." She touched her left arm again, trying to force the tears and pain away. Zuko's eyes landed on the burns, and narrowed.

"Azula hurt you?" he asked darkly, his expression unreadable.

"Don't you pretend to care!" she snapped, turning her back to him and sitting down, whimpering slightly as she put weight on her injured arm.

Zuko sighed and followed her lead, settling himself on the cold ground to wait for his sister. "But I do care," he whispered, so quietly that even he could barely hear it.

And he _did_ care. If Azula was twisted enough to torture the Avatar's girl just for fun, then she had slipped even further into insanity then he could ever have imagined. It wasn't a good sign. And, judging by how the waterbender was still letting little sounds of pain escape her when he knew her to be stoic and strong, Azula had really done some damage.

He even felt a little surge of pity twinge somewhere deep inside him - but it was quickly quashed when the Water Tribe girl spoke again.

"You're a terrible person, you know that?"

She spoke quietly from her seat roughly fifteen feet away, but he still heard every word as though she'd shouted it in fury. He closed his eyes and hung his head, staring at the ground beneath him. _Oh, I know_, he wanted to stay. But he kept his silence.

"Always following us, hunting the Avatar, trying to capture the world's last hope for peace?" She said it almost musingly, as though thinking out loud rather than speaking to her life-long enemy. "But what do you care?" And suddenly, her voice was dark and ominous, a voice that held a million unspoken, unfathomable threats. "You're the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood."

_It's in a Azula's blood, not mine!_ he wanted to shout. _ I'm different now! I swear I've changed!_

But had he changed? Seeing her, the girl for whom the Avatar would brave fire and hell, had made all of his old longings and desires come rushing back. She was right there, right within his grasp; and with her was another chance at the Avatar. At regaining his honour.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I don't?" She sounded like Mai; cold, despondent, and waiting for the right moment to strike. "How _dare_ you?" And there it was: the strike. He heard her rise, heedless of the pain those burns caused her, and stalk towards him. "You have no idea what this war has put me through, me personally! The fire nation took my mother away from me!" There were tears in her voice now, and when he turned, still seated, to see her standing over him, her ocean-blue eyes were swimming. The surge of pity tugged at him harder. She had lost her mother, too.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, meeting her gaze as best as he could. "That's something we have in common."

He sounded so sincere, and when her eyes met his golden ones, she saw only truth there. The tension drained out of her and she let out a slight gasp. He had lost his mother, too.

"I'm sorry," she echoed, almost desperately, stepping toward him and teetering on a slightly uneven patch of earth. "I didn't know- ah!" She let out a cry of pain as she fell, landing badly on her left arm. Zuko rushed to her, cradling her gently in his arms as she screamed through gritted teeth.

"Let me help you," he said quietly, turning her carefully to remove the pressure from her wounds. She couldn't deny him; the pain was too terrible, and his hands were almost soothing against her skin as he delicately raised the sleeve of her Water Tribe robe to her shoulder and deftly tied it there. He sucked in a surprised breath.

"It's bad, isn't it?" she groaned, closing her eyes as though to ward off the pain.

"I've seen worse." _Barely_. He examined the burns with as much clinical detachment as he could, but he couldn't suppress the feeling of nausea that rose from his stomach when he realized that his sister, his own flesh and blood, was responsible for this. "Did she get you anywhere else?" he managed to ask, forcing the bile back down his throat with difficulty.

She shook her head weakly. "But I'm assuming she'll come back to finish the job."

He didn't doubt that.

"There isn't much I can do." He sighed and rubbed his neck. "I thought you were a healer?" he asked absently.

"I am," she snapped. "But I was saving my water for an escape plan, and then _someone_ destroyed it all."

He hung his head. "I'm sorry."

They sat in silence for a moment, each thinking their own thoughts. Neither seemed to notice the awkwardness of their position - Katara half in Zuko's lap, with one of his arms protectively around her waist and the other pressed lightly against the burns on her upper-left arm. Then Zuko stroked the waterbender's skin very gently with one callused thumb, and the absurdity of the situation came flooding into both of them. Zuko released her suddenly and she climbed jerkily to her feet, blushing furiously and avoiding his gaze.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you before." she mumbled.

"It doesn't matter." he muttered back as he stood up, equally red.

But it _did_ matter. And after he had been so kind to her, she felt she owed him an explanation. "It's just..." she began. He looked at her expectantly, and she blushed deeper and looked away. "It's just that, for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face."

"My face..." His hand jumped self-consciously to his scar. "I see."

"No, no, that's - that's not what I meant." Katara backtracked hurriedly, all the while wondering what she _did_ mean.

But he smiled. It was a very slight, almost imperceptible smile, but a smile nonetheless. "It's okay. I used to think this scar marked me, the mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever." She shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot. She knew a little bit about curses. "But lately," he continued, a slight note of pleasure in his tone. "I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark."

And then, quite suddenly, she had an idea. A crazy, impossible idea. An idea so completely ridiculous that it just might work.

"Maybe you could be free of it."

She said it so quietly that he could barely hear her, and when his mind finally managed to process the words, he could scarcely believe it. "What?" he asked, hardly daring to hope.

"I do have healing abilities."

So that's what she was getting at. He sighed and looked away. "It's a scar. It can't be healed. Besides," he added, raising his eyes to hers. "You don't have any water."

She reached into her robe and pulled out a small, ornate vial, dangling it before his eyes. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties so... I've been saving it for something important. I don't know if it would work, but..."

"No." He said it so sharply that he almost shocked himself. She pulled back, looking hurt. "No," he said hurriedly, more kindly now. "Use it to heal yourself."

She shook her head. "It doesn't work that way." she told him, staring calmly into his face. "You have to use it on someone else. Someone important."

"I'm... important?" he asked, dumbfounded. She blushed again, but nodded ever-so-slightly. He took one long, hard look at her embarrassed face and determined stance, then nodded. "Okay. Let's try it."

He closed his eyes.

Katara took a deep, steadying breath. What she was about to do would not only be the most difficult waterbending she'd ever attempted, but it also went against all of her instinctual and ethical beliefs. She was about to heal someone from the Fire Nation: a master firebender _and_ the Fire Lord's son! She should be trying to kill him, not trying to heal a trivial, non-lethal injury. For a moment her vision blurred and she imagined using the Spirit Oasis water to kill Zuko. She imagined a viciously sharp ice blade cutting into his skin, spilling his blood over her and -

She shook her head, clearing the gruesome image from her mind. Not only would that be completely contrary to the way she had been living her life lately, but she also suspected that the ramifications of using the Spirit water to kill would be far graver than she could possibly imagine.

Her heart started beating faster and faster as she opened the tiny vial and felt the soothing energy of the water wash onto her hands and into her soul. The power it gave her was far greater than any she had ever felt, but it was a power of creation rather than destruction. She raised one glowing hand to Zuko's puckered, red skin. He winced as the cool water touched him, then relaxed into the feeling of relief. She smiled slightly, then her mind was whisked away into the healing.

She felt a deep, dark heat emanating from the skin behind the scar and dove in to retrieve it. This was more than just an injury, it was a curse: a curse that left behind a thick, black sludge that smelled like death and smoke. She almost gagged, but steadied herself. It was this sludge that she had to remove from Zuko. She felt sure that if she could remove it and replace it with the water from the Spirit Oasis, the exiled Prince would no longer be marred on his face or in his heart.

She felt for the black stuff and was surprised and pleased that it bent to her will almost as easily as water did. Slowly, carefully, she drew it out, drop by drop, until all the enchanted water was gone and her hands were covered in nauseating black oil. She gagged again, but stored it in her water-skin. There was no telling when a powerful curse would come in handy. Then she raised her eyes to Zuko's face and gasped.

"It's gone! Zuko, it's gone!" His eyes flew open and he raised a hand to his left eye. His fingers were shaking as he pressed them to his face and felt only smooth skin, completely unblemished. He gazed at Katara in wonder and noticed the tears of joy in her eyes.

Then they both started laughing and whooping, their glee loud enough to be heard in new Ba Sing Se, miles above them. Zuko grabbed the waterbender and crushed her against him in a bone-breaking hug.

"Thank you," he murmured into her hair, noticing how soft it was against his face. He pulled away and they rested their foreheads together, smiling. Katara was shocked at how... _normal_ Zuko seemed without his scar and with a smile on his face. Then he squeezed her shoulders a little too tightly and she gasped. She had almost forgotten about the burns Azula had left her.

Zuko frowned and took a step back, releasing her but keeping his hands on her shoulders. His right hand slid down to her arm and caressed the ravaged skin with such a tender gentleness that it made tears spring up in her eyes.

"I owe you so much," he said, his rough voice catching. "I wish I could heal you the way you've healed me." His hand slipped smoothly up from her arm to the side of her face and he tilted her chin up ever so slightly until their eyes met. His breath hitched in his throat as he noticed again just how blue her eyes truly were. They were like the ocean, like the sky on a clear day. They were mesmerizing. But then they fluttered closed and he grinned and brought his lips slowly but inexorably to hers.

Their lips had barely touched when the wall behind them exploded, sending them careening away from each other.

"Aang!" Katara cried, racing into the Avatar's arms. The bald boy glared at Zuko as he held the Water Tribe girl, but then his eyes widened in shock.

"Zuko?" came a familiar voice. Zuko grinned and face his uncle fully, without shame.

"Hello, Uncle." He took Iroh in his arms and was surprised to feel the old man stiff and unwilling to hug him back.

"What happened to your scar, Zuko?" Aang hissed as Katara pulled away from him and turned back to face the two Fire Nation noblemen.

"Katara healed it." he said, sending her a look full of admiration and thanks. She blushed and lip her lip to keep from smiling.

"There's no time to discuss it now," Iroh snapped. Zuko couldn't understand why his uncle didn't seem pleased. This was good, wasn't it? Was it not what Zuko had always wanted? "Aang, you and Katara must find your other friends before Azula finds you."

Azula. In the midst of everything that had just happened, Zuko had nearly forgotten about Azula. She would be coming for them, and soon. Aang nodded and led Katara back through the tunnel that he seemed to have blasted in the wall of the crystal catacomb. As she followed the Avatar, she looked back at Zuko with a strange, almost longing expression on her face.

* * *

"I thought you had changed!" she screamed, lashing out with her whips made of water to deflect his made of fire.

"I _have_ changed."

She dodged the next blast, and the next, but he wasn't so lucky. Her liquid ropes lashed out and grabbed him by the wrists, yanking him down to the cold stone beneath them.

"After everything I've done for you, you betray me like this?"

Hr broke free and sent a rolling ball of flame after her, which was ripped to pieces by a dancing octopus of water.

"This wasn't about you!" he grunted, evaporating the blades she tossed at him and counterattacking with similar blades of his own.

"Oh yeah?" she snarled, and in that moment he was more afraid of her than he'd ever been of anyone, including Azula. Including his father. Her eyes were no longer ocean blue; they were solidly black and blazed with a maniacal hatred. "Well, it's about to be!"

She washed a wave of water over him so large that he couldn't evaporate it all. He lost his balance and fell to the floor, water filling his mouth and lungs. Coughing and gasping for air, he barely noticed when the water around him froze until he tried to stand and couldn't. She stood over him, and there was nothing in her eyes. No laughter, no fear, no sadness, not even hatred. Just blank darkness. Then she reached to her side and opened the water-skin.

But it wasn't water that flew out under her command; it was a black, evil-looking oil that smelled of death and fear and anguish.

"What are you doing?" he shouted, squirming in the ice but unable to escap.

"Taking back something that you don't deserve."

Then she jammed the black sludge back where it belonged and drew out the Spirit Oasis water drop by drop. Zuko was screaming in agony beneath her but she continued working, her mind focused on one thing. _He betrayed me. He has to pay the price._

It was twice as painful to get the scar the second time. The first time, shock numbed the burning. This time he felt it all; the flames searing across his skin, the nerves and muscles buckling and refusing to force the anguish away. But underneath that, a different pain; the pain of his heart breaking as the mark of his shame returned.

Then she was gone, scooping the Avatar up and carrying him away. This time, she didn't look back.

The ice melted and he was free to move again. He raised a hand to his face and let out a scream of fury when he felt the scar, the violated skin. But now it was not only a mark of his father's hatred.

It was also a mark of Katara's.

* * *

a.n.

The ending was a bit rushed and it felt a little more angsty than I would have liked, but there you have it; numero uno.

(PLEASE don't bitch at me about how the whole healing/unhealing thing is unrealistic. I know it is. It's called creative license. Deal with it.)


	2. she got hurt?

a.n.

Just so you know, these stories aren't related to each other in any way. That's part of why I'm doing them out-of-order. Each story operates under the rules and conditions that apply to the episode originally.

I don't know ATLA.

Rub it in.

* * *

Episode 2.08 ~ _The Chase  
_**What if... **_**she got hurt?**_

Azula was cornered, and she knew it. As powerful as she was (and Spirits, she was _powerful_), even she wouldn't be able to withstand an attack from two firebenders, an earthbender, a waterbender, and the Avatar's airbending skills. She didn't think of the Water Tribe peasant's boomerang as a real threat.

Even so, she knew she wouldn't get out of this alive unless she did something dastardly, something evil. She would have time for one single blow. All she had to do was decide who to attack to cause the most damage to the rest of the group. Uncle Iroh? Her eyes flicked to him. He was probably the slowest of them all, but only Zuko would truly be upset by it, and it might not even prevent the onslaught. The earthbender? Perhaps, but Azula was slightly anxious about the blind girl's reflexes. She couldn't guarantee she'd make the shot. The same went for Zuko and the Avatar. They were both just too fast.

Who, then? The Water Tribe pair were her only options. The girl could bend like a master, and the boy, she knew, was a better fighter than he appeared. But she felt sure she could take either one if she moved quickly enough. If she caught them off guard.

So the question now was: whose loss would hurt the whole group the most?

Azula's eyes narrowed and fixed on Iroh. The other five all shifted slightly, unconsciously towards him. _Perfect_.

She sent a blast of blue flame directly into the waterbender's chest.

"KATARA!" Aang and Sokka screamed her name together and both dropped their fighting stance. The girl in blue fell slowly, as though through water, and both her brother and the boy who was in love with her rushed to her side. Even Iroh stepped towards her, complete shock on his face.

But two of them stood strong. Toph, though she felt a painful ache inside her, did not even turn her head towards the sound of her friend hitting the ground with an agonizing thud, and Zuko merely glanced slightly in the Water Tribe girl's direction and grit his teeth. Together, the earth and firebender each sent an attack of their own element at the princess. Azula dodged the fire but lost her footing as the ground beneath her shifted.

"Hey, Sparky!" Toph yelled, opening a hole beneath Azula which she barely managed to escape. "Go help Katara!"

"What?" Zuko shouted back, disrupting his sister's flames with his own. "No way!" He grunted, sending a massive wave of fire in Azula's general direction.

"You and I together aren't going to beat her!" Toph crouched low to the ground to avoid a jet of white-hot flame. "I can't do anything for Katara, but you can!"

"But Azula!" He growled, punching fire at the princess before somersaulting through the air.

"I'll keep her away for long enough! Please, help Katara!"

Zuko relented. He knew he wasn't ready to face his sister, and he felt partly responsible for what had happened to the waterbender. If only he had been fast enough, Azula could never have hurt anybody. He turned tail and ran back to his uncle and the Avatar, leaving the earthbender to face Azula alone.

"So, you think you can scare me away, little blind girl?" Azula taunted, a hint of mania in her sneering voice.

Toph didn't bother to respond. Instead, she slammed one foot hard into the ground, and then the other. Rock tendrils raced up her body, wrapping her from head to toe in a full suit of solid rock armour.

"Tell me, _princess_," Toph said casually, throwing a petulant emphasis on the last word as the rock traveled over her head and sealed with a final crunch. "When's the last time you won a battle against rock?"

Azula's eyes widened.

* * *

"What can I do?" Iroh begged as he, Aang, and Sokka crouched beside Katara.

"She's a healer," Sokka told him as Aang sent a burst of air beneath her and raised her slightly off the ground. "All we need to do is submerge her in water and technically, she should be able to do the rest." They all stood, Aang supporting the prone girl with a current of air. His face was a tortured mask of pain as he surveyed the burned body of the one he loved. "There's a river a few miles from here, we can call Appa and get her there-"

"No."

The voice came from behind them. Zuko stood there, breathing hard and covered in dirt, his eyes locked on the blue Water Tribe robes and the charred skin beneath them.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Sokka shouted, brandishing his boomerang and stepping protectively in front of Aang and his sister.

"Zuko..." Iroh said quietly, his voice disappointed.

"She's _dying_!" Aang screeched, his first words since Katara had fallen.

"I know." Zuko said darkly. "She's dying too quickly. Your giant moose with wings won't get her to a water source in time, not with all of you."

"What do you suggest, then?" Sokka demanded, his boomerang still held high in the air.

Zuko whistled once, lightly, and his ostrich-horse came running back to him. Where it had been throughout the battle, Zuko didn't know, but he was pleased that it hadn't been hurt by the flames now burning the entire empty village to the ground.

"I'll take her."

"What?" Sokka gasped, at the same time that Aang yelled: "No way!"

"There is no time to argue," Iroh told them, a slight smile on his face. "She will die if she does not find water soon, and Zuko has offered a perfect solution. You should trust him."

Aang and Sokka shared a look, then Aang sighed and floated Katara over to the Fire Lord's son. Zuko flipped himself gracefully back up on the ostrich-horse and took the waterbender gently into his arms.

"If you hurt her..." Aang began, his voice menacing.

"I won't."

He grabbed the reigns and forced the animal to turn to the forest behind them. "Stay here," he ordered the Avatar. "I'll bring her back to you."

Then he was gone, his steed flying far more quickly toward water and Katara's only hope for survival than Appa ever could. Aang sunk to the ground and sat cross-legged. Maybe, if he meditated, he wouldn't think about Katara. Maybe, if he meditated, he could keep some hope alive.

* * *

It took Zuko almost half an hour to reach the river into which, unbeknownst to him, Ty Lee and Mai had been thrown earlier that day. By that time the ostrich-horse was exhausted, Zuko was tense and sweating beyond belief, and the waterbender in his arms was barely breathing.

He didn't bother dismounting properly. He just slid off, landing badly on his left foot and gritting his teeth against the pain. But that didn't matter now. All that mattered was that he get the girl into the water. If all went according to plan, she could heal him later.

He lifted her carefully from the creature's back and it collapsed into a heap of quivering limbs and shaking feathers. He apologized silently to it before carrying the girl, carefully, carefully, to the edge of the river. Then he walked right in up to his waist and lowered her, gently, gently, into the cool, calming water.

And nothing happened. He stared, dumbfounded, as she just floated there, unmoving. She was supposed to _heal_, for Agni's sake! Why wasn't she healing?

As he watched, she took one last, shuddering breath. Then her breathing stopped completely. He lifted on hand jerkily to her throat and felt nothing. No heartbeat, no life.

She was dead.

He let her fall from his arms and she sunk to the bottom of the lake. Then he screamed.

"It wasn't supposed to happen this way!" He threw a burst of fire into the water before him, boiling it with the sheer force of his fury. How could he return to the Avatar now? He had promised to bring the girl back, healthy and whole, but he had failed. Again. As he always did.

He sent jet after jet of fire into the river, not caring that the searing liquid burned his skin. Azula had been right all along. His father had been right. He was worthless. He couldn't even save someone's life, let lone capture the Avatar. He should just drown himself in this river, this boiling, glowing river, and -

Wait. _Glowing?_

He looked down in shock. The girl beneath him was glowing. In fact, every drop of water in the river was glowing, and she was rising up from the bottom toward him...

He scrambled onto the bank of the river and watched in awe as the waterbender's body floated up, up, up, above the level of the river, high into the air. Everything was swirling mist and glowing fog and blue eyes. Then the light faded, and she dropped like a stone back towards the surface of the water. Zuko dove back into the river and got there just in time to catch her. He dragged her out and rolled her on her back, opening her robes and staring at the point where she had been burned.

There were still marks there, and he thought it unlikely to ever heal completely, but she was alive. She was alive. He sighed heavily and tugged her into his arms, holding her to him as though afraid she'd slip away.

_I did it. I didn't fail_. He let the reality of this wash over him for a moment, then went to set up camp.

* * *

Katara awoke feeling distinctly unrested, but pleased to hear the sound of a large, crackling fire and smell the familiar scent of delicate meat wafting her way. She smiled, her eyes still closed. Sokka would be in a good mood, proud that he'd caught something worthwhile. Toph would be making fun of him, Aang would be laughing at them both, and Zuko -

Wait. _Zuko?_

She sat up quickly, regretting it almost at once; her chest felt as though it had been torn to pieces. She looked down and saw that she'd been bandaged - and not that well. Her eyes landed on Zuko, who was cooking something over a large fire - of course it was large, he could make it easily enough - and seemed completely oblivious that she was awake. She glanced over at the river and silently, silently, raised a long, thing dagger made of ice from it depths. Then she sent it flying toward the firebender without a second thought.

He melted it before it struck without even looking at it. She swore and jumped to her feet, preparing to send more daggers at him. But then he looked up and held out a skewer.

"Leopard squirrel?"

She gaped; the daggers melted and flowed gracefully back into the river, where they belonged. "What have you done?" she shrieked, ignoring his look of surprise. "Why did you kidnap me _again?_ Are you seriously _that_ obsessed with catching Aang?"

Zuko blinked, his scar highlighted devilishly in the firelight. "What are you talking about?" he demanded, his voice rough. "I didn't kidnap you!"

"Then why-" Suddenly, she remembered. The battle. Six people cornering Azula. The pain of blue fire hitting her in the chest. She raised on hand and pressed it against the messy bandages, the pain returning in full force. "You... saved me?" She gazed down at him in wonder.

He looked away, into the firelight, but she could have sworn she saw him blush. "Don't sound so surprised," he mumbled, poking violently at the fire with a stick. "I was the only one who could. The cloud cow would have been too slow." He held out the skewer of meat again. "You should eat, regain your strength. The healing took a lot out of you, and it still isn't complete. You should sleep, then you can finish healing yourself in the morning."

"And then?" she asked, taking the skewer, sitting down, and sinking her teeth into the food. She hadn't realized how hungry she was.

"Then I'll bring you back to the Avatar." He sighed and lay back, staring at the sky with his hands behind his head. "Eat, then sleep. I'll wake you in the morning."

She nodded. She ate in silence while he just lay there. She saw the stars reflected in his eyes and she blushed, opting instead to watch the fire crackling merrily. Then she got up and moved back to where she had been lying before, in a rather comfortable bed roll that must have been Zuko's. He didn't seem to have anything to sleep on.

"Good night, Zuko," she murmured, half asleep even before she hit the ground. "Thank you."

* * *

The fire died lower and lower, but Zuko didn't bother saving it. He had already eaten, and he wasn't intending to sleep tonight. He had to watch over the Avatar's girl, make sure she was safe. What a strange day this had turned out to be.

She started mumbling incoherently from her bed. He sat up and looked over at her: she was tossing and turning violently, seemingly unable to keep still.

"No, no, no," he muttered, getting up and moving over to her. "You won't heal unless you stay still." She didn't respond, but continued her frantic movements. He grimaced and grabbed her arms, trying to hold her in place, but she struggled out of his grasp. "What, do you want me to sit on you?" he roared, annoyed. Again, she merely slept on. He sighed and rubbed his face in his hands. What had his mother always done to help him sleep when he was having nightmares as a child?

He lifted Katara's head and settled it into his lap, stroking her hair the way he remembered from his childhood. Her hair was really very soft, he mused, twining his fingers in its dark length. But, while the gentle caresses seemed to calm her very slightly, she wasn't still. He swore, remembering what else his mother had done to calm him.

She had sung to him.

But he didn't remember any lullabies. The only one he knew was the one Uncle Iroh sang when he was missing Lu Ten. But a song about a soldier boy wasn't going to work in this situation. He closed his eyes, thinking back. Wasn't there a song his mother had sung? Something about clouds and sun...

Eyes still closed, he began to sing. At first his voice was scratchy and unsure, but as he remembered more and more of the song he forgot his feelings of awkwardness.

"_When a cloud is born, she flies up to the sky. She dances in the wind, she laughs and then she cries. When the sun is born, he opens up his eyes. He smiles at the cloud, and shines on her his light. Then they dance together, the cloud and sun and sky. Leaving pretty pictures, for all those who pass by._"

He finished the song and coughed, feeling heat rising up his neck. But the girl in his lap was finally at rest, her breathing calm and slow. He smiled down at her, and before he could stop himself he had leaned over and kissed her gently on the top of her head.

"Good night, Katara."

* * *

This time, when Katara awoke, it was dawn and her body felt as though it had spent the night rolling in a field of pillows. She smiled and yawned, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"You're awake."

She looked around and saw Zuko watching her from his place near the fire pit. He seemed anxious, but she thought she saw a sliver of a smile cross his face when he looked at her.

"I had a wonderful night." She stood up and stretched, careful not to pull the muscles in her torso too far. "I'm not sure why. I started out with nightmares and then suddenly, everything was -" She stopped. Zuko had looked away, blushing, and a strange memory flitted through her mind.

"Did you... sing to me?"

Zuko blushed even deeper, then nodded. She went over and sat next to him, watching his face carefully. Then she leaned over and hugged him, tightly. He froze, unsure of what to do. When she didn't let go, his body relaxed and he wrapped his arms around her, feeling the warmth of her neck against his cheek.

"Thank you." she said quietly, directly into his ear.

"You're welcome." He released her and she sat back on her heels, staring at him. Her eyes were so blue. His eyes shone like the sun. They were stuck there for a moment, frozen, then Katara looked away.

"We should get back. Aang must be worried about me."

Something inside of Zuko snapped. Why should the Avatar get everything? It was always about him. Everyone was obsessed with that bald, flying kid: his father, this girl, the world... even Zuko himself. Everything in his life had been decided by the Avatar.

Not this time.

He grabbed Katara by the shoulders and tugged her into his lap. Then, without thinking, without even considering the possible outcomes of his actions, he kissed her.

"If this is some sick, twisted way of getting to the Avatar," she breathed when he pulled away. "Then you've got another -"

He kissed her again, deeper this time, and she kissed back. He drew her closer and she pushed him back to the ground so that she was lying on top of him. Her hands traveled over his chest and into his short, spiky hair. He kept one arm tight around her waist so she couldn't leave, but the other found the end of her soft braid and untied the ribbon that held it in place. As they kissed, he worked the braid out of her hair until it floated all around them, like a curtain of silk.

When they finally separated, both out of breath and blushing, Zuko's heart was pounding. He sat up and helped her to her feet.

"You should heal," he told her. She nodded and moved back to the river, her hair floating behind her on the breeze.

He watched her go, a strange lightness in his chest. Whatever happened after this, he knew his destiny was taking a slightly different turn.

* * *

a.n.

Love it? Hate it?

Let me know.


	3. CRACK: he fell in love!

a.n.

This idea came to me in an almost divine stroke of inspiration. It's a pure crack pairing that I think has never been done before. I didn't want to make a new story for it, and it still falls into the 'What if...' category, so I've decided that I will randomly put a crack, non-Zutara piece in here every now and again, just to spice things up.

I don't own ATLA.

And Mike and Brian would probably murder me if they saw this story.

* * *

Episode 1.20 ~ _The Siege of the North, Part 2  
_**What CRACK... **_**he fell in love!**_

He stared down at the pool before him and his lip curled up in a sneer. Those poor, pathetic spirits had no idea what was about to befall them. To think that they would be fool enough to assume a mortal form! It was as though they were asking to be killed by human hands.

The circling fish seemed completely unaware of Zhao's presence. They simply continued their everlasting dance of Moon and Ocean, Tui and La, Yin and Yang, Dark and Light. But it was Tui who interested Zhao the most.

And yet, even though he held the sac poised the capture the great spirit and put an end to waterbending and the Northern Water Tribe for good, he couldn't help but hesitate and watch their silent, continual motion. It was rather soothing, and he found the excess tension drain out of his body as his eyes followed the smoothly curving forms of the fish before him.

They were so graceful, so delicate. And yet, within them was some of the strongest spiritual power ever manifested in one place. It awed him, to be standing there above them with more control over their destinies than they had over his. They were his enemies - his _mortal_ enemies - and his complete opposites. Where they created, he destroyed. He remembered the Fire Nation wing in the vast, ancient library, burned to the ground. He remembered the dragons, hunted to extinction by the very people who learned from their majestic beauty. It all seem so barbaric to him now, with the water flowing along in glittering currents and eddies.

He was still hesitating when one of his men coughed quietly from behind him. "Admiral Zhao, sir."

Zhao started, feeling embarrassed. "Of course." He shook the bag open, and then dropped to his knees beside the pool and scooped up the beautiful white koi fish. He straightened and turned around to face his soldiers, a wide grin dominating his features.

"All right, men. Back to the ship!"

* * *

"Oh no!" Yue gasped, swaying slightly so that Sokka had to wrap an arm around her waist to keep her from falling over.

"What is it?" he asked anxiously, looking her over from head to toe to make sure she hadn't been hurt.

"Zhao!" Aang growled, pointing. "He has the Moon Spirit!"

Everyone gasped. Zhao was indeed running back to his ship, a wiggling black bag clutched tightly in his hand.

"What can we do?" Katara cried.

"Nothing." Yue lowered her eyes solemnly. "It's too late."

They all held each other and waited for the moon to die.

* * *

Zhao was still gripping tightly to the struggling bag as he boarded his ship. "Run me a bath!" he ordered the first servant he saw. The man nodded and began to hurry away, but Zhao stopped him. "A lukewarm one." The man raised on eyebrow quizzically, but still ran to complete the task.

"I'm going to my quarters!" he shouted to his men. "Inform me when the battle is over."

No one questioned him as he brought the fish with him below deck. They assumed he would kill it when he was down there. Perhaps he would eat it with a fine red wine to complement the flavour.

When he arrived in the captain's quarters, the bath had already been pulled. Zhao glanced at the room-temperature water, then at the bag in his hand. In a moment that would change his life forever, he made a decision.

He slid the fish out of the bag and into the tub. She immediately began circling, even though she was missing her dance partner. Zhao watched her for a moment, tenderness in his eyes.

"Not to worry, my sweet," he whispered, reaching out and stroking her smooth, strong back with one gentle fingertip. "I will never leave your side."

* * *

a.n.

Have you ever heard of a Zhao/Tui pairing? HAVE YOU?

Didn't think so.

I scare myself, sometimes.


	4. he saw her?

a.n.

Sorry this one took a little longer to get out; I had a busy weekend. I went on a bit of a shopping spree, dyed the bottom half of my hair purple... you know, normal things.

This one-shot is a little less contextual and sweet, and a little more blunt and crude. I think this Zuko is a lot more in-character that the Zuko I've dealt with up 'til now, but that's just my opinion.

RANDOM SIDE NOTE~ Tui is the female Moon spirit; I looked it up. Also, when is Zutara week, sometime in August? Also, if there are any artists out there who would like to draw some scenes from my fics (specifically the singing or kissing scenes from 'she got hurt') please let me know. I could write you a fic or something as payment. Gah, I wish I had artistic ability.

I don't own ATLA.

I cry myself to sleep over it.

* * *

Episode 3.17 ~ _The Ember Island Players  
_**What if... **_**he saw her?**_

She couldn't sleep. How could she? After that horrifying performance, she would have been surprised if any of their little gang wasn't lying awake in bed, staring at the ceiling and wondering if the Ember Island Players had gone from pretending to prophesying. Well, except for Toph. She wouldn't be staring at anything.

Katara's mind was full of the play and its awful conclusion. In her mind's eye, she saw the actress who had played her and gritted her teeth. No matter what the rest of 'Team Avatar' said, she was _not_ a preachy, emotional crybaby! And they were going to win the final battle against Azula and Ozai! Aang and Zuko knew all that magic-dragon-stuff about firebending now; they weren't going to be beaten that easily!

But then again, she couldn't guarantee that they wouldn't be beaten at all.

It was no use; she couldn't just lie there and try to force these thoughts from her mind. She dragged herself out of bed, annoyed at how exhausted her body was when her mind was so pessimistically active. She didn't bother putting clothes on; in fact, she took her bindings off and wrapped herself in one of the broad, red towels emblazoned with the Fire Nation insignia that had been left behind by Zuko's family years before. It felt strange to have the slightly coarse material against her skin, knowing that it had once belonged to both the Fire Lord who was planning to destroy the world, and to Zuko's mother, Ursa, who had sacrificed everything for her son.

She stole quietly and quickly out of the house, not wanting to alert anyone - especially Aang - to her sojourn out into the warm summer night. It was a surprisingly short walk down the rocky hill to the beach, considering how she could only use one arm to balance herself, the other being already occupied with holding her towel up. The water called to her, singing a song of protection, comfort, and hope. Almost as soon as her feet touched the sand she dropped the towel and sprinted to the soothing waves of the ocean. She dove into the water in a long, graceful arc, and the tension seeped out of her body the moment she penetrated the surface of her element.

She was home.

She surfaced some time later and blew a stream of water from her mouth, high in the air like a whale. She let a delighted laugh escape her lips as she pushed her wet hair out of her face... but the laughter died abruptly. She had been so impatient to get into the water that she hadn't bothered to see if anyone else had come for a midnight swim.

Zuko watched her with an expression of polite interest until she looked down, noticed her state of complete nakedness and let out a shriek. He averted his eyes, looking out at the dark horizon that melted almost completely into the ocean. Katara crossed her arms over her chest, feeling the heat rising over every inch of her skin.

"What are you doing here, Zuko?" she demanded, careful to keep her voice steady.

"Washing up," he answered in his gravelly voice. He held a bar of soap in her direction, and she noticed that there were indeed tracks of soapy water trickling slowly down his chest and ridiculously well-defined, muscular abdomen. She looked away as quickly as possible, uncomfortably aware of how good he looked without a shirt on, with his dark hair plastered against his face.

"I'm naked!" She immediately felt awkward. Of course she was naked! Why had she felt the need to pronounce it like that? Her thoughts never went straight around Zuko. Especially not since their Southern Raiders field trip.

"I noticed." How could he be so calm?

"Well, don't look at me!"

"I'm not." His voice sounded frustrated. It was true; he wasn't looking at her. He was wiping away the last vestiges of soap from his body, his eyes fixed on some point, far in the distance, back towards the Fire Nation mainland. Katara knew she should feel relieved that he wasn't being lewd, but something in her was annoyed.

"Well, why aren't you?" she demanded, glaring at him.

"Excuse me?" Still not looking.

"Why _aren't_ you looking at me?" She didn't know why she was saying these things; all she knew was that having him act as though she were an ordinary platypus bear rather than a naked human female was aggravating. "I know I'm not some Fire Nation noble, but I'm decent-looking, aren't I? I'd even go as far to say I was pretty. I mean, any other guy would be peeking or downright staring at me, even Aang! But you -" Her voice caught in her throat. Zuko had turned towards her, finally, and his eyes locked on hers.

He held her gaze for a moment before slowly, deliberately shifting his scrutiny down her shoulders and along the curve of her waist, lingering for a moment on her breasts, hidden by her crossed arms. He locked his eyes on the water at her waist as though he could see the other hidden parts of her, and then moved back up, over her stomach, her shoulders, her neck. She could feel the sheer power of his stare, sending shivers across her caramel skin. She closed her eyes for a moment, swallowing. When she opened them, his golden-sun eyes were on hers again.

"What do you want me to do, Katara?" he asked, smirking. There was something like a threat in his voice: it seemed deeper and more harsh than ever. He took a step towards her and she curled her arms more tightly around herself, a sudden fear gripping her stomach. He kept moving in her direction as he spoke. "Do you want me to grab you, throw you down, and take you the way I've imagined ever since I tied you to that tree?"

She gasped at his words, her mouth hanging open in shock. Had he really just said that? Zuko, the prince of the Fire Nation, her until-recently worst enemy?

"I-I-I uh..." she stammered, feeling the heat of her cheeks overpower her ability to think.

His smirk grew. "I didn't think so." He reached out to touch her, and she almost jumped away from him. But all he did was lift a strand of her dark, soaking hair away from her face and give her a soft, sweet, chaste kiss on the temple. Then he turned and, without saying another word, headed back to shore.

Katara hadn't even considered the fact that he was naked, too, until she saw the starlight reflecting from _all_ of his skin before he wrapped up in his own red towel. But after that, she couldn't stop.

* * *

a.n.

I know it's a little shorter than normal - usually they're longer and more involved - but I hope you enjoyed it regardless.


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